Risk Factors for Physical Disability Upon Release from Multidrug Therapy in New Cases of Leprosy at a Referral Center in Brazil

Overview

Journal Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo

Specialty Tropical Medicine

Date 2019 Feb 21

PMID 30785567

Citations 4

Authors

Barbara Proenca Nardi Assis

Sandra Lyon

Maria Aparecida de Faria Grossi

Manoel Otavio da Costa Rocha

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The present study sought to investigate the risk factors for physical disability upon release from multidrug therapy (MDT) in new cases of leprosy, registered at a referral center in Brazil. This is a longitudinal and retrospective study that evaluated 260 patients. Multivariate analyses, using both the ordinal logistic regression, as well as the classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm were performed to determine the factors associated with physical disability upon release from treatment. The prevalence of disability did not differ significantly between diagnosis and release from treatment. Number of affected nerves and sensory impairment upon diagnosis were risk factors for disability at the end of MDT. The analysis using the CART algorithm resulted in the development of a clinical score to predict the risk of disability upon release from MDT. The decision tree may have a direct applicability in clinical practice for professionals dealing with leprosy, as it allows them to identify patients with a higher risk of physical disability through the use of simple and widely available clinical tests. This study also shows that the disability grade upon admission is the main risk factor for disability upon release from MDT. This result draws attention to the importance of early diagnosis in disability prevention.

Citing Articles

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Spatial analysis of epidemiological and quality indicators of health services for leprosy in hyperendemic areas in Northeastern Brazil.

Barbosa C, Bonfim C, de Brito C, Souza W, Melo M, de Medeiros Z Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2020; 62:e93.

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Disability progression among leprosy patients released from treatment: a survival analysis.

Dos Santos A, Silva P, Steinmann P, Ignotti E Infect Dis Poverty. 2020; 9(1):53.

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Whole blood RNA signatures in leprosy patients identify reversal reactions before clinical onset: a prospective, multicenter study.

Tio-Coma M, van Hooij A, Bobosha K, van der Ploeg-van Schip J, Banu S, Khadge S Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):17931.

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